At the end of 2005 I found myself in an interesting situation. I had been working in the mortgage business for a couple years and I had made more money then ever before in my life. I had accumulated just about every material possession that I had ever wanted, including a house. I was 23 years old, I had over $30,000 in the bank, and I quickly realized how unfulfilled I was with it all. So I looked at a map and picked out a few places I wanted to visit and bought an around-the-world ticket and left about three weeks later for a trip that lasted 15 months.

Along the way God showed me things that could never be expressed with words or pictures or videos. But I decided it was time to start pursuing photography as more than the hobby that it had been to me since I was in high school. The beauty of the people and places I visited awakened a new passion and desire to share God’s magnificent creation through photographic storytelling. I didn’t just want to take pictures, I wanted people to see and feel, as much as possible, the awesome and beautiful diversity of the world.

Malawi was the first place I started using my new camera and was a first step in what God has cultivated in my life as one of my primary passions. Our friends LeRoy and Cindy Metzger had moved to Malawi about a year before we got there and we were overjoyed to share in the work they were doing with the people. We visited orphanages, refugee camps, and rural villages, sharing the love of Jesus in any way that we could. It was an experience that has changed my life and I will never forget.

These are just a few photos from the month that we spent there.